Erick Strickland had heard about Jeff Van Gundy’s reputation that he was slow to adjust to new players on the club. Strickland thought maybe he could be different. It hasn’t turned out that way.

Six months after the Draft-Night trade that cost the Knicks their first-round pick – rebounding forward Donnell Harvey – Jeff Van Gundy no longer views Strickland as a point guard. Even Rick Brunson is higher than Strickland on the point-guard totem pole.

Pidgeon-holed as purely a backup shooting guard, Strickland’s role has steadily diminished and the Knicks have received inquiries from other teams about him, the latest being the Sixers.

During this back-to-back set completed last night vs. the Timberwolves, the defensive guard Strickland finally got some decent playing time. After playing a season-high 28 minutes Friday vs. Chicago, Strickland played 18 minutes in last night’s rousing 88-79 victory in Minnesota, eating up the minutes of Glen Rice, who sat out the final three quarters with a sore left heel as the Knicks won their season-high fourth straight.

The Knicks didn’t miss Rice, who for the second time this season rang up a doughnut, going scoreless in nine minutes while Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell stepped up. Indeed, if Rice is ever shipped, Strickland’s role suddenly becomes significant. The arrival of Rice, Van Gundy has admitted often, meant “a lost opportunity” for the energetic Strickland.

Strickland started 67 games for the Mavericks last season. Although Don Nelson doesn’t use a traditional point guard, Strickland was mostly in that role, sharing the backcourt with Michael Finley.

“I feel I could play point guard,” Strickland told The Post before last night’s game in Minnesota. “He has to kind of trust me. That’s the whole thing. He has to develop a lot of trust for players. Once he gets that, he’ll feel more comfortable.”

Strickland had sat out two straight games before this back-to-back set. Strickland only got major playing time Friday because the Knicks were undermanned, with Houston missing his first game since the 1996-97 season, third-string point guard Rick Brunson taking a leave of absence after his grandmother died and starting point guard Charlie Ward out until January rehabilitating from knee surgery.

Still, Strickland did not handle the ball vs. Chicago. Chris Childs started at the point and Spree shifted to point guard when Childs was out of the game.

Said Van Gundy “I’ve always saw him as a backup 2. I knew he could play some minutes there sure but I never thought it was his position. He could defend it. It’s not his offensive position. He’s got a scorer’s mentality.”

That’s a little bit of revisionist history. When the trade was made, both GM Scott Layden and Van Gundy said they thought he could play both positions. And that’s why the Knicks shopped Childs so heavily in the summer.